


Homecoming

by FallenQueen2



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Don't copy to another site, Fix It Fic, Gen, M/M, No Time Skip, Season 7 AU, Team as Family, badass paladins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:47:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallenQueen2/pseuds/FallenQueen2
Summary: Voltron didn’t lose all those years once they beat Lotor, this changes the way they returned to Earth.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> How I wish the Paladin’s return to Earth went, in this AU they didn’t lose all those years when they beat Lotor as I thought that their return was very lacklustre and didn’t display how amazing and badass the Paladin’s truly were by that point. 
> 
> I found this in my WIP and decided while it is not done and most likely will never be more than these two chapters, I thought I would share it nonetheless

“Status report!” Sam Holt cried out as he stormed into the control center, panic thundering through his veins since the moment he saw those Galra cruisers coming into view high above the Earth. 

“They look to be circling the planet and our readings show they are charging some sort of ion cannon from each battleship!” Veronica reported, fingers flying across her keyboard, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face. 

“Can you hail them?” Sam asked, desperate to stop this attack before it happened. Earth was nowhere near ready for this sort of invasion and he still hadn’t heard anything from Katie and the rest of Voltron, not even Matt had replied yet. 

“I can try… Aha! On the screen Commander!” Veronica said in triumphant before she paled at the sight of a large purple Galra with one eye and prosthetic claw. 

“I am Commander Sendak of The Fire of Purification and we are here for the lions of Voltron, hand them over or we will destroy your planet.” Sendak snarled, his voice glitching like the computer was trying to translate the languages Sam had programmed into them to English. The Galra looked powerful and in control but there was no way Sam was going to back down. 

“I will give you one minute to comply or your planet is forfeit,” Sendak stated in an almost bored tone before Sam even had time to reply. 

“Voltron isn’t here and Earth will not fall as easily as you think it will Sendak.” Sam snarled, remembering what Katie had told him about what Sendak did to the Castle of lions, Lance, herself and Shiro. He was not going to let this Galra hurt anyone else he cared about and he had a planet to protect. 

Suddenly the ground shook and everyone in the control room yelped and clutched at their terminals as they lurched forward. Sam knew that was the result of a blast hitting their particle barrier and he wasn’t sure how long the barrier would last. 

“That was a warning shot, comply now Earthlings,” Sendak ordered firmly. 

“Give me Voltron!” Sendak roared before the transmission shook and Sendak snarled and Sam felt hope flare up in his chest. They hadn’t fired any of the fusion canons yet, so if Sendak was under attack that could only mean one thing. 

“What was that?” Sendak snapped off-screen.

“You wanted Voltron, you’ve got it!” A familiar voice echoed through the speakers as another transmission made it’s way to the control room causing everyone in the room to gasp in shock.

“Champion, I knew you would come to protect this dustball of a planet.” Sendak’s lips curled back to show his pointed teeth. 

“You made the grave mistake of attacking this planet Sendak and this time we won’t be so gracious to let you live.” Shiro snarled in response, his own transmission popped up next to Sendak’s showing his full black Paladin armour and pure white hair. 

“Shiro!” Sam beamed in relief at the sight of Shiro alive and well. 

“We shall see Champion, all ships focus on Voltron. I want those lions!” Sendak roared and his transmission feed was cut off. 

“Commander Holt, keep the barrier up and if you have any ground support we would appreciate it.” Shiro smiled at Sam who returned it with relief. 

“You’ve got it, Shiro, we can scramble our own fighters if you need backup?” Sam offered.

“No need Commander, taking out Galra fleets is our specialty and well after taking down Lotor, this is nothing,” Shiro smirked and twisted his head to the side to touch a glowing screen next to him. 

“Paladins, don’t let anyone of those ships breach the atmosphere or they will attack the Earth with no remorse,” Shiro ordered firmly and one with the air of someone who did this numerous times before. 

“Got it!” Numerous familiar voices echoed back and Shiro smiled proudly. 

“We’ll contact you when we have taken down Sendak and destroyed his fleet.” Shiro turned back to the screen. 

“Dibs on taking down Sendak’s ship!” Lance’s voice filtered through and Veronica let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hand at the sound of her brother’s voice. 

“Still holding a grudge Lance?” Pidge asked teasingly and Sam beamed at the sound of his little girl’s voice. 

“He blew me up and almost killed Shiro, yes I am holding a grudge!” Lance huffed and Shiro placed his left hand over his eyes while trying to hold back some sort of noise. 

“Guys focus and yes Lance you can blow him up!” Keith chuckled from his lion and Lance whooped in return. 

“Cut the chatter Paladins,” Shiro said fondly and the transmission cut off leaving the control room in silence. 

“They, just, my brother was almost killed by that purple asshole!” Veronica raged as she punched the desk she was sitting at as she realized how dangerous things had been for Lance and the other cadets in the time they had gone missing. 

“I’m sorry Veronica, but they have been through a lot, but they are stronger than anyone in the garrison,” Sam said like it was a fact. Veronica gave Sam a wobbly smile before turning back to her screen to keep an eye on the battle. 

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Iverson asked Sam as they watched the battle from a distance, flashes of colour flitting in between the purple battle cruisers that were exploding every time one of the coloured streaks flew past. 

“Get the fusion cannon’s charged up and give them some support,” Sam ordered.

“Yes Sir!” Veronica jerked to life and determination to give her brother any backup she could provide. 

“Sir should we launch the new ships?” Iverson asked concern in his voice. Those were still his old cadets up there and if he could do anything to help them then he would do it. 

“No, they aren’t ready for this yet and well I hate to say it but they would get in the way of the lions right now. Besides, it looks like only Sendak’s ship is left.” Sam said absently as he watched the battle on screen, a smile on his face as he watched as all the ships but one fell to the Voltron lions. 

“They are charging their ion canon again! This blast is massive and if it makes contact with the Earth… Half of the planet will be destroyed.” Veronica reported face paling and the room broke out into mutters and gasps. 

“What can we do?” Iverson turned to Sam who was paler than before. 

“We believe in Voltron and fire those fusion canons!” Sam shouted.

“Firing in 3… 2… 1!” Veronica hit the correct buttons and everyone watched as the orange blast flew into the sky and they cheered when the blast made contact with the remaining cruiser. They watched in awe as the streaks of colour flew up in an organized formation and a burst of light appeared and a new form stood. 

“Magnifying,” Veronica murmured as she quickly enhanced the image and she gasped in awe at the sight of Voltron in all its glory as a sword appeared in the mouth of the red arm. 

“Voltron,” Sam breathed out in delight as awe wafted across the room and Sam knew that seeing Voltron for the first time was something to behold. They watched as a shield appeared in front of the robot just in time to block the incoming ion blast. 

They watched as the ion cannon was then destroyed by another blast and a new ship came into view it was a mix of glowing white, green and blue with a shining particle barrier up around it to protect it. 

Voltron zoomed forward showing up on their screen as nothing but a blur and appeared on the other side of the cruiser and a moment later the battleship was sliced in half in a bright explosion, outlining Voltron’s form in the aftermath like an avenging angel. 

“They did it.” Sam breathed out in excitement, his words echoing in the silent control room, everyone holding their breath for confirmation that the Galra had truly been defeated. 

“This is Takashi Shirogane of the Castle of Lions and the Voltron Coalition. The Galra invasion fleet has been destroyed and we are requesting permission to land.” Shiro’s voice rang out and Sam noticed that it was broadcasting throughout the Garrison itself to let everyone know what had happened and that he was still alive, Sam just hoped Adam was on base to hear it.

“This is Commander Samuel Holt of the Galaxy Garrison, come on home Voltron,” Sam responded in kind and the room erupted in cheers and applauds as it sunk in that the Galra threat was gone, for now at least. Sam just couldn’t wait to have his daughter back in his arms and soon Matt would join them and his family would finally be complete after all this time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of me trying to fix the paladin's return to earth. Enjoy!

“Are you guys nervous? I’m nervous like we have no idea how long it’s been on Earth and what if our families aren’t there, what if they freak out and don’t accept us being Paladins and defenders of the universe and oh God what if they aren’t space wolf people?” Hunk babbled as he and the others broke Voltron.

They were flanking their new Castle ship (which the Olkari helped them rebuild and with the crystal from the old castle in place and then Shiro accidentally bonded with the castle itself, it was better than ever) in their individual lions as they slowly descended through the atmosphere of Earth, of their home. 

“Hunk, breath!” Keith advised as his face popped up in the yellow lion. 

“But Lance, Pidge and I went AWOL to help you and Shiro and then we disappeared, what if we get back and they court-martial us and lock us in the brig and never let us see our families?” Hunk’s mind spun with what could happen and suddenly landing in the Garrison itself seemed like a bad idea. 

“Then we’ll just break out of the brig, it will be a lot easier than a Galra brig and then we call our lions and leave,” Keith said simply like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Really?” Hunk whispered, feeling himself relaxing. 

“Obviously I mean if they want to mess with any of us then they get all of us,” Lance said cheerfully.

“I’ve already hacked into their systems, my dad did a good job upgrading but I’ve got eyes everywhere and with one click we can get out of anywhere in the Garrison with ease,” Pidge said confidently.

“If they dare to lay a hand on any of you I will show them why Altean’s are to be feared,” Allura said firmly and Hunk sniffed.

“Thanks, guys, you’re the best.” Hunk said voice a bit wobbly.

“Oh yeah, you guys are coming to my house for dinner right? Keith my mom will think you’re far too skinny and will try to fatten you up.” Lance said teasingly and Keith sighed dramatically through their com system.

“We are sticking together so we are going to be making the rounds Lance,” Keith said reminding the other Paladin of their plans. 

“Just making sure, I can’t wait to see everyone again. It’s going to be so weird but I can’t wait.” Lance said just as cheerfully. 

“I am quite excited to see your homeworld, what you all have told Coran and myself about it has me very interested,” Allura said, childish excitement in her voice and eyes glittering as she took in the shades of blues and greens and desert reds as they made their descent. 

“Paladins, 5 dobosh’s until landing, is everyone ready?” Shiro appeared on the lion’s view screens. 

The Paladins gave murmured words that basically summed up that they were ready and Coran appeared in the image right in front of Shiro who leaned out of the way.

“Paladins! Let’s do a dramatic entrance like in our promotion shows!” Coran said joyfully and everyone minus Keith let out moans and noises of dismay at that idea.

“I did manage to catch a few of those shows, they always made my day.” Keith chuckled as he remembered trying to keep it together whenever he saw them on a holo screen, but he always left before the talking started because after the first time he felt guilty and missed them so much it hurt.

“No you guys, Coran is right. We are the defenders of the universe, we need to make an entrance.” Lance perked up at the idea. 

“What do you have in mind?” Allura asked curiously and Lance’s grinning face just popped up and he explained his idea that had them all chuckling and agreeing to it. 

“Let me go out first, we have no idea what we are going to be walking into. I want to make sure it’s safe for you all before we let our guard down.” Shiro stated firmly remembering the last time he had landed in the Garrison in an alien ship, he trusted Commander Holt but he wasn’t sure about the Garrison at the moment. 

“We’ll wait for your word Shiro.” Keith agreed and the others nodded sharply and things quieted down when the familiar building of the Garrison appeared below him, it’s orange particle barrier fading away.

“Keep the Castle airborne Coran and be ready to put the barrier up just in case,” Shiro ordered as he headed for an airlock.

“You’ve got it number one!” Coran snapped out a salute and faced his console again. Shiro smiled fondly as he put his helmet on and powered up his jetpacks. He jetted over to the Black Lion and stood tall and strong on the lion’s brow as the lions gently landed on the ground, sending sand and debris flying from the powers of the lion’s thrusters. 

“Stay in your lions until I give the go-ahead Paladin's,” Shiro said as he leapt up off the head of the Black lion and landed in a crouch in front of the gathering group of Garrison members. 

“Superhero landing!” Lance cheered and Shiro fought back a smile as Hunk and Pidge cheered along with Lance while Keith told them to shut up and pay attention, fondness coating his words. 

“Shiro?” Sam Holt stepped forward, the guards and Iverson and four cadets in flight suits tensed. 

“Commander, it looks like we got here just in time.” Shiro took the helmet off and held it to his hip and smiled fondly at the man. 

“That Shiro is an understatement, it’s good to see you all alive and well.” Sam rushed forward and warmly clapped Shiro’s shoulder with a pleased smile on his face as he waved up to the Green lion with his free hand. 

“You as well Commander, now what is the situation with the Garrison, do I need to keep my Paladins in their lions?” Shiro lowered his voice as he eyed the other Garrison members. 

“You are classified as friendly’s and no harm will befall you here,” Sam said confidently. “We had to put Admiral Sanda in the brig when she fought too much against us defending against the Galra and wanted to put you all in the brig and experiment on the lions.” 

“So everyone else is okay with us here?” Shiro confirmed, slightly relieved that Sanda wasn’t going to interfere with them. 

“You could say that Earth is the newest member of the Voltron Coalition,” Sam said cheerfully and Shiro nodded and turned up to look at the lions and gave a sharp nod. 

Five armour clad figures rose from the tops of the lions, jetpacks flaring and they all landed on the ground in a similar style as Shiro had moments before. One by one they removed their helmets and squinted at the bright sun, Pidge ran to her father and tackled him into another hug extremely pleased to see him. 

“Welcome home Katie, oh your mother is going to be so happy to see you.” Sam sank to the ground, holding his daughter close as the other Paladins gathered around. 

Lance, Hunk and Allura had their heads craned back as they took in the sights of Earth. There was a soft pop and Cosmo appeared on the ground next to Keith who smiled in relief and knelt down to pet the alien wolf smirking at the shifting and looks of awe and shock the gathered Garrison members gave at the sight of the teleporting space wolf. 

“Welcome back to Earth Cadets, Commander Shirogane.” Iverson stepped forward and his lips twisted up into a smile. “I guess you’ve surpassed Cadets and Commander status by now huh?” 

“Something like that,” Shiro let his own lips twist into a smile.

“Commander Iverson, I owe you an apology for how I acted before all of this,” Keith said boldly as he rose to his feet, fingers tangled in Cosmo’s fur like he was stabilizing him. 

“The same could be said of me, no hard feelings?” Iverson offered a hand, he had talked with Sam about what his former cadets had been up to when they disappeared from the planet and he knew that they were no longer the teenagers he had yelled at to do better all those years ago. 

“No hard feelings.” Keith shook the offered hand and gave Iverson a small smile before laughing when Cosmo moved forward and he watched as Iverson cooed and stroked Cosmo’s fur.

“Careful Commander, he may teleport you to some random place in the universe,” Lance said snickering a bit when Iverson blinked up at him in shock. 

“McClain… I was wrong about you, you had so much potential and I went about trying to bring it out in the wrong way… From the colour of your armour and what Commander Holt told me you not only piloted the Blue Lion off of Earth but now you also pilot the Red Lion. This is what I knew you were capable of.” Iverson rose to his feet and offered Lance his hand as he did with Keith.

“…Thank you, Commander, that actually means a lot to me.” Lance swallowed hard and shook the offered hand. 

“LANCE!!!!” A female voice shouted as a uniformed figure pushed her way through the gathered guards and launched herself at Lance, tears in her eyes.

“Veronica? Veronica!” Lance gasped in shock and disbelief before tears streamed down his face as he wrapped his arms around his sister and the two sank onto the ground as they sobbed against each other. 

“Get out of my way! That’s my baby!” Another voice shouted and a woman with short hair made her way towards the group, Pidge perking up at the voice.

“Mom!” Pidge extracted herself from her father’s arms and leapt up to hug her mom, the two sobbing and sinking to the ground to match Lance and Veronica. Sam engulfed the two with his arms and held them close.

“You are so grounded young lady.” Colleen sniffed as she held her youngest close. 

“Y-Yeah, I figured.” Pidge laughed gasping for air as tears streamed down her cheeks. 

“Hunk, Lance, the rest of your families are on their way here and Shiro… Someone is waiting for you.” Sam looked up at the other Paladins and winced when he realized Keith had no one waiting, but the Paladin didn’t look bothered as he talked quietly with Allura who seemed to be asking him numerous questions and they also seemed to be speaking with someone else who must still be on the Castle. 

“The rest of the reunions will have to wait, we need to debrief you all and make sure you’re not full of alien radiation,” Iverson said once the tears had slowed and everyone was now on their feet. 

“Our suits stop any sort of radiation so there is no need for that,” Allura said smoothly, knowing that the Castle and suits were very efficient that way. 

“We’re not doing anything until we see our families.” Hunk said stubbornly. 

“You need to be debriefed.” Iverson protested.

“Families first,” Hunk shot back, desperate to see and hold his family after all this time.

“Do Paladins not follow a chain of command? You will debrief when Commander Iverson tells you.” One of the cadet pilots stepped forward, anger and disbelief on his face and tone and Keith narrowed his eyes at the sight of Griffin and he took a step forward when Hunk’s shoulders slumped and his eyes turned downwards.

“Keith,” Shiro said in a low warning tone and Keith shot him a look as his shoulders slumped while rolling his eyes, but Shiro’s warning didn’t stop Lance.

Lance was moving in a blur of blue and white as his Bayard appeared in his right hand, glowing and shifting shapes into an Altean Broadsword that was pressing against Griffin’s neck. Griffin’s squad mate’s yelped and jumped back, not having expecting to be attacked. 

“Oh Lance,” Shiro face palmed while Pidge cackled and Keith grinned looking very like Krolia. 

“Listen here… Cadet.” Lance sneered, as he looked Griffin up and down with disdain. 

“You have no idea who we are anymore, what we have been through. We were ripped out of everything we have ever known and thrown into a war that was 10,000 years old and suddenly we became the defenders of the universe. So don’t you dare try and tell us what to do or what not to do. We understand the chain of command perfectly, just the thing is no one here except maybe Commander Holt is apart of that chain, so cadet. Keep your mouth shut until you understand how we work.” 

“Lance, stand down,” Shiro called out amused and Lance bared his teeth at Griffin before letting his Bayard disappear into his suit again before he stepped back into place between Hunk and Keith. Hunk and he fist-bumped absently and Veronica looked at her brother in silent awe and a bit of shock at seeing her brother like that. 

“We won’t make you debrief until you have been reunited with your families, it has been a long time for everyone and that is the least we can do for you all,” Sam said firmly, eyeing Iverson who looked a bit impressed by Lance’s words and quick protective actions. 

“Of course, follow us. We have rooms set up for when your families arrive and Garrison outfits for you to change into.” Iverson gestured towards the building. 

“Let me get Coran down here then,” Allura said cheerfully and put her helmet back on and a few minutes later with the Castle ship still hovering overhead Coran landed on the ground thanks to Cosmo. Coran cheerfully started to talk to Iverson who thankfully took Coran in stride as the group started to move forward. 

“With all due respect Commander, we will be staying in our armour,” Shiro said politely. 

“Why?” Veronica asked curiously, she and Lance had their arms twisted together while Pidge was all but clinging to her mom’s side. 

“These suits have saved our lives more times than we can count, we were in space and on alien planets and they adjusted so our human bodies could handle it,” Lance explained beaming at his sister, as he felt warm and fuzzy at being with his sister again. 

“You have so much to tell us and I’ll try not to freak out like I did when I heard you got blown up by that Sendak!” Veronica inhaled deeply to stop herself from panicking again. 

“Ah, you heard that?” Lance said under his breath. “I’ll explain later I promise and it really wasn’t as bad as it sounded?” 

“It better not have been,” Veronica said firmly and Lance laughed awkwardly, exchanging a look with Keith who winced as he remembered being the one to hold Lance close as they waited for the healing pods to come back online. 

Keith stepped closer to Shiro who was lagging at the back of the group, looking unsure. 

“I don’t know how I’m going to do this Keith, we didn’t part on the best terms then I was ‘KIA’ and I don’t know what he knows or if he even wants to see me. I know Sam said he does but I don’t know if I can face him.” Shiro admitted to Keith in a low voice and Keith put his hand on Shiro’s shoulder in silent support. 

“You have been through so much Shiro and even if you and Adam didn’t part on the best terms, you both deserve this to either be closure or something else. You have been through so much and you deserve something good.” Keith said softly, remembering the night they had camped out on a planet they had found. 

How Shiro told them all about Adam and what had happened. Keith remembered watching Adam and Shiro back in the Garrison and wanting that kind of love in his life. 

“I do…” Shiro said slowly like he was coming to terms with that he did deserve something good in his life. 

“We’ll be right there with you Shiro, you know that,” Keith said and Shiro shot him a grin and glanced over at the others who were silently sending him smiles or thumbs up discreetly and he knew that he wasn’t alone with this. 

“Shiro, he’s in that room… Whenever you’re ready.” Sam stepped back to give Shiro a look.

“Okay, thank you, Sam.” Shiro took a shuddering breath and with one final look at the others who beamed at him and helped up his confidence a bit more. He opened the door to the room and felt his heart beat faster in his chest at the sight of Adam looking the exact same if not a bit tired sitting on the couch, head snapping up when the door creaked open. 

“Adam.” Shiro breathed out. 

“Takashi, is that really you?” Adam rose to his feet, eyes not moving away from Shiro who was still standing in the doorway, not able to move his body as Adam’s voice washed over him. 

“It’s really me Adam, I know it’s a bit of a difference…” Shiro felt his knees going weak and he had to fight the urge to just burst out into tears; he never thought he would see Adam again. 

“A bit! Takashi, oh my god.” Adam crossed the room and threw his arms around the other, burying his face in Shiro’s neck letting out shaky sobs. Shiro closing following suit, clutching Adam’s back with his hands and the two of them broke down together, finally reunited after so long. 

It felt like an hour before the two managed to extract themselves from the other, tear stains obvious on their cheeks. Adam ran a shaky hand through Shiro’s white hair with a nervous laugh. 

“It’s a new look huh?” Adam gave a watery smile.

“Something like that,” Shiro gave his own smile before steeling himself for what he had to say next. 

“I’m not sorry I went on the mission, I’m not sorry because even with all the pain and suffering it caused the both of us it brought Voltron together, it gave me this family and I wouldn’t change that for the world,” Shiro said firmly. 

“I am sorry about the way we ended things, god I replayed our conversation over and over and I wish it had gone differently.” 

“Somehow I knew you would say that Takashi,” Adam closed his eyes briefly as he curled his hand around Shiro’s hand tightly, holding onto him like a lifeline. 

“Commander Holt told me about what you endured, what you went through up there, well I’m sure more has happened and no doubt it was watered down for me, but… I see that this is larger than either of us. Goddamn defenders of the universe Takashi. I doubt you will be staying on Earth for good with the universe out there waiting for Voltron. We’ll talk about us later but just right now let me savour having you in my arms again.” Adam lurched forward to cling to Shiro’s amour again. 

“Okay Adam, later. I can’t wait to introduce you to my family,” Shiro rested his cheek on top of Adam’s head, inhaling the familiar yet foreign scent of his old boyfriend’s shampoo. 

Slowly the two separated from the other and rose to their feet, hands brushing together as they left the room and headed towards the room where the rest of Voltron, the family he had made out in the stars was waiting for their leader to return to them.


End file.
